1850 $1 PR64 NGC....

Description

Exquisite PR64 1850 Dollar

1850 $1 PR64 NGC. Gold was discovered in 1848, and by 1850,
California gold camps had yielded enough bullion to sway the market
ratio of silver to gold. Silver became comparatively scarcer, and
thus more valuable. The metallic content of silver coins exceeded
face. Mint deposits of silver bullion dwindled, and mintages fell
correspondingly. In 1850, only 7,500 business strike silver dollars
were coined. The proof mintage is small but unrecorded.
In 1993, Q. David Bowers described two die pairs. The present piece
is his second variety. It is distinguished by a recut base of the 0
in the date, and a cluster of die lines from the denticles beneath
the 50. The reverse die is familiar to Seated dollar researchers,
as it appears to have struck the sizeable majority of proof 1840 to
1850 Seated dollars. Its primary diagnostics are die lumps on each
side of the right upright of the second A in AMERICA, above the
crossbar.
The obverse die was also used to coin a portion of the business
strikes. Per Bowers (1993), the ANS holds an 1852 proof struck from
the 1840 to 1850 restrike die. This is the only known post-1850
specimen from the shared reverse.
The present specimen exhibits beautiful golden-brown and mauve-red
toning. The strike is razor-sharp, even on Liberty's curls, the
eagle's ankles, and the peak of the left (facing) wing. Thorough
rotation beneath a loupe fails to locate any conspicuous hairlines.
This lot provides a combination of rarity, quality, and value that
would be difficult to surpass. Census: 10 in 64, 3 finer
(2/08).From The Queller Family Collection of Silver
Dollars.(Registry
values: N7079) (NGC ID# 2522, PCGS# 6991)